Become a member of your workplace pension plan
Like any project that is dear to us, retirement is a life event that needs to be planned meticulously and over a long period of time. Becoming a member of a workplace pension plan will help you carry out your projects and continue doing what you enjoy when you retire.
You probably know that income under public retirement plans from the Government of Canada (Old Age Security program) and the Gouvernement du Québec (Québec Pension Plan) provides basic protection in the event of retirement. However, it is not sufficient to ensure that you can maintain your standard of living. You must have savings to bridge the gap and avoid having to renounce what you like most, because you do not have enough money.
A pension plan is reassuring
Workplace pension plans provide income that is added to income under public plans and to your personal savings. Becoming a member of your workplace pension plan can therefore help you have adequate income to maintain your standard of living throughout retirement.
A pension plan is brilliant!
Find out the main advantages:
- Employer's contribution
- Payroll deductions
- Immediate tax savings
- Managing the financial risks associated with retirement
- Advantageous management fees
- And many others
There may be certain exceptions, depending on the pension plans.
A pension plan is beneficial
If you are a worker who has the privilege of being a member of a workplace pension plan, take advantage of this opportunity and choose a contribution that will maximize your retirement income. It is important to be familiar with the terms and limits of your pension plan. To do so, you can, for example, consult the documents related to your pension plan. It is important for you to pay attention to your plan now because it is a key element in financial planning for retirement.
Your employer does not offer a pension plan?
In Québec, although businesses of a certain size are required to offer a voluntary retirement savings plan (VRSP) or another retirement savings vehicle, several workers do not have a workplace pension plan. It is therefore harder for them to save sufficiently for retirement. If that is your case, you will have to count more on your personal savings to make up the difference of income and to protect yourself against the financial risks related to retirement.
If your employer does not provide a pension plan, ask your employer to set one up and have the employer look at the information available on our website regarding the various group retirement savings plans (French only). Your employer can choose the tool that is best-adapted to his or her reality and find out more on the various advantages of providing a plan, particularly to retain employees and increase the competitiveness of the organization. During this period of labour shortage, these advantages could really pay off for an employer.
For more information, consult our page regarding workplace pension plans.